Why Are SCE Rates Going Up in Southern California? (2026)

8 min read • Updated October 2026 • By the CliQ Team — the team that created Blink

Why are SCE rates going up? Mostly wildfire costs and grid spending approved in Southern California Edison's 2025 rate case. SCE raised rates again on October 1, 2026, lifting a typical 500 kilowatt-hour bill 1.5%, to $188.64 a month, mainly to recover costs from the 2018 Woolsey Fire, according to SCE. That follows a 12.9% jump in October 2025, when the CPUC approved SCE's rate case for 2025 through 2028. A typical bill is now about 10% higher than it was in September 2025, and SCE's residential rates are up 101% since 2016, the most of California's three big utilities, according to the CPUC's Public Advocates Office.

About 814,000 SCE customers are behind on their bill. If you're one of them, the CARE discount takes 32.5% off electricity usage charges, plus $18 off the monthly Base Services Charge, for a family of four earning up to $66,000. Here's what's driving SCE's rates, what changed this year, what's coming, how to get help, and the part of the bill you control.

Why SCE Rates Went Up

The 2025 rate case

Every four years, the CPUC sets how much SCE can collect from customers to run and upgrade its system. In September 2025, it approved $41.78 billion for 2025 through 2028. That's $4.39 billion less than SCE asked for, but it still raised SCE's 2025 revenue 12.6%. The money pays for burying 177 miles of power lines in high fire-risk areas, covering 1,653 miles of lines with insulated wire, replacing aging equipment, and handling growing demand. Because the decision came late in the year, SCE is also collecting what it missed earlier in 2025 over 24 months, starting October 2025. The LA Times covered the vote.

Video by LA Times Studios via YouTube, September 2025. Not affiliated with CliQ.

The Public Advocates Office names three main drivers of rate increases statewide: wildfire prevention and liability costs, transmission and distribution investments, and rooftop solar incentives, under which customers with solar panels pay less toward the shared grid. For SCE, wildfire-related costs were $2.69 billion in January 2026, 14% of what it collects from customers, up from 9% in January 2023.

The Eaton Fire and the Wildfire Fund

In August 2026, the Los Angeles County Fire Department released its investigation of the January 2025 Eaton Fire and concluded that electrical arcing on an out-of-service SCE transmission tower started it. California's Wildfire Fund, which utility customers and shareholders both pay into, exists to cover claims from fires like this one. PBS SoCal and CalMatters explained how it works, and why the Eaton Fire raised doubts about whether the fund will last.

Video by PBS SoCal via YouTube, March 2025. The cause was still under investigation when this aired. Not affiliated with CliQ.

Since then, state lawmakers extended the Wildfire Fund through 2045 (SB 254, signed in September 2025), with equal contributions from customers and shareholders. A separate bill on wildfire liability (SB 492) died without a vote in September 2026. Edison International's CEO, Pedro Pizarro, said afterward that if SCE's credit rating is cut as a result, higher borrowing costs could add hundreds of millions of dollars to what customers pay.

What Changed in 2026, and What's Coming

Every rate change since 2025

Figures from SCE's rate notice for each date, for customers not on CARE, before the Climate Credit. SCE's October 2026 notice puts the prior typical bill at $185.85.

January's decrease came mostly from lower forecast power costs, partly offset by the rate case. In June, SCE added $380.7 million for wildfire liability self-insurance for 2026, offset by cuts elsewhere. October's increase included $49.7 million in Woolsey Fire restoration costs and $140.1 million for bonds SCE issued to pay wildfire claims, and it shifted a slightly larger share of SCE's costs onto residential customers.

The Base Services Charge

Since November 2025, SCE bills include a fixed Base Services Charge: $24.15 a month for most customers, $12.08 for FERA customers and deed-restricted affordable housing, and $6 for CARE customers, billed as a daily amount. In exchange, SCE says the price per kilowatt-hour dropped about 10%, and the old minimum charge went away.

Peak hours: 4 to 9 p.m.

On SCE's time-of-use plans, electricity costs the most in the late afternoon and evening: 4 to 9 p.m. on TOU-D-4-9PM, and 5 to 8 p.m. on TOU-D-5-8PM, with the highest prices on summer weekdays. That's exactly when air conditioners run hardest in the Inland Empire and the desert. Using less during those hours is one of the few levers you have on an SCE bill.

2027 and 2028

The rate case already sets SCE's revenue for the next two years: $10.21 billion in 2026, $10.73 billion in 2027, and $11.18 billion in 2028, increases of roughly 5% a year. Other costs, like wildfire claims, power purchases, and transmission, are handled separately and can move rates in either direction. For how California compares with other states, see which states have the highest electricity rates.

SCE CARE Program and Other Help Paying Your Bill

About 814,000 SCE customers, 17%, were behind on their bills in May 2026, owing $733 on average, according to the Public Advocates Office. These are the main programs, from the CPUC, SCE, and the state.

The Part You Control: How Much You Use

The CPUC sets SCE's rates. How much you use gets set at home.

Start with heating and cooling. They account for more than half of the energy used in a typical US home, according to the EIA. The Department of Energy says turning the thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees for 8 hours a day, like overnight or while the house is empty, saves up to 10% a year on heating and cooling, and that the savings are greater in milder climates. In summer, the same idea runs in reverse: let the house run warmer while you're out, and on a time-of-use plan, cool it down before 4 p.m. instead of during the peak. (DOE does caution that deep setbacks aren't a good fit for heat pumps.)

The catch is doing it every day. Nobody remembers to change the thermostat before work, before 4 p.m., and again at bedtime, all year. A schedule does it for you. For other reasons a bill runs high, see why your electric bill is so high, and check what a normal electric bill looks like.

That's where CliQ comes in. It's a $69.99 smart thermostat that runs the schedule for you. You set four temperatures for morning, day, evening, and night, so the evening setting can line up with SCE's peak hours. Away mode adjusts the temperature when you leave and brings it back when you're home, including automatically based on your phone's location. The app is free, with no subscription.

It also fits older Southern California homes. Plenty of them have a thermostat with no C-wire, the constant-power wire most smart thermostats need. CliQ doesn't need one. It works with most 24V systems, including gas furnaces, central air conditioning, and single-stage heat pumps. It doesn't control electric baseboard or wall heaters, or ductless mini-splits. If your old thermostat is a compatible Honeywell two-wire model, CliQ clicks onto the existing wall plate with no tools. Otherwise it's a screwdriver and a few minutes.

$69.99 MSRP. No C-wire required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Prices verified as of October 2026. Check retailer links for current pricing.